Apple's New Gamble? Movies on your iPod?

[MacUser]

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060912/D8K3JJGG0.html

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Seeking to further push digital media into homes, Apple Computer launched its long-awaited online movie service Tuesday and showed off a device that will make it easier for consumers to watch the videos on television.

The iTunes Music Store, however, will initially carry movies only from the studios of The Walt Disney Co., where Apple CEO Steve Jobs is a board member. By contrast, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN)'s movie service launched last week with distribution deals with seven studios - but not Disney.

Jobs said more than 75 films will be available on iTunes from Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax. New releases will be priced at $12.99, when pre-ordered and during the first week of sale, or $14.99 afterward. Library titles will be sold for $9.99 each.
Other online movie services already exist but haven't attracted many customers. Apple, however, is already being cast as a leading competitor with its entry.

...Another reason is Apple's strategy of bringing digital content stored on a computer and playing it back on a television - a challenge that has so far dogged online video providers and other companies looking to expand digital multimedia into the mainstream market.

As many expected, Apple is tackling that problem.

At a media event Tuesday, Jobs also showed off a slim, compact set-top box, dubbed iTV, that will allow consumers to wirelessly send movies purchased online - as well as other digital content stored on a computer - to a television set. It will sell for $299 and be available early next year.

See iTV here:

[RamboPreacher]

isn't this the same as Sony's Location free unit that has been out for a long time?

[CantBCoy]

Having a job at Best Buy, I can tell you that the Apple Ipods are junk. At least 1 out of 3 come back for service or replacement. Find an alternative player.

[Paully_44]

I would have selected other if that had been an option.

I have an 30GB iPod I got for Christmas last year. I have downloaded a few videos from iTunes, but really dont like it. THey stink up the battery to quickly and the screen is way too small. The audio quality was good though.

[MacUser]

The iPods ( + Nanos and Shuffles ) were all totally remastered also during this announcement.. higher resolution screens and the movies will be higher resolution also.

http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipod.html

[CantBCoy]

(Micro$oft)
The world's largest software maker said it will launch a 30-gigabyte Zune and an iTunes competitor called the Zune Marketplace in the United States this holiday shopping season.

Google it and read about how cool it is.

[MacUser]

Yep, Micro$oft has won already and with such an original design. I mean UPS Brown is radical.



Start putting your iPods on ebay.. it's over. When you follow.. you will always win. Remember you heard it here first.


Micro$oft launches the Zune!
http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/14/micr ... -the-zune/

As expected, Micro$oft is busting out the Zune today, and we've got the rundown. Not a lot of surprises in the specs department, but they've confirmed the basics we've known for a while, like WiFi, 30GB of HDD, built-in FM, a 3-inch screen and the basic music, pictures and video playback. They also finally let slip the screen res -- an unsurprising QVGA -- and some better news on the codec front: the Zune supports h.264, MP3, AAC and WMA. As for ballyhoo, wireless Zune-to-Zune sharing is where the real action is at, and it works pretty much like we've been hearing: you can share a full-length track with a friend, and they've got three times to listen to it over a three day period, after which they can flag the song for purchase on the Zune Marketplace